15, 30
by brevityofwit
Summary: AU; An exploration of what happens when you put one Neji Hyuuga, tennis player, and one Shikamaru Nara, definitely *not* a tennis fan, together. Will is cause chaos or be an opportunity in disguise?


The title is meant to be _15-30 _as a reference to a score in tennis, but FFnet apparently hates to use the "-" so I'm stuck with a comma.

Disclaimer:I don't own _Naruto_.

A/N: AU but still Naruto-ish; I anglicized the names; I have no affiliation with any tennis tournament or group; this is in no way related to _Prince of Tennis_ as I have not seen it.

There are several references to tennis and overall game rules, especially the scoring system. If you're not familiar with it and would like to take a look, visit here: http://en(dot)wikipedia(dot)org/wiki/Tennis#Scoring

This rather strange fic is for D.A. Maxwell because I told you I'd write one for you, and although I'm not sure if you like tennis, I hope you enjoy it either way. ^_^

"Speaking" & "_Thinking_"

P.S. There are footnotes at the end that explain a few things.

* * *

This was it. The biggest moment of his life. Well, up until this point anyway. Two days from now would really be the biggest moment of his life. Oh yes. In two days time he would be in the final of _the _**biggest** tennis championship in the world.

But first, Neji Hyuuga had to hold his serve.

He had been in this sort of situation before: losing the first set only to come back and win the whole thing. Being the underdog made him popular with the fans when he turned pro. It's also what catapulted him up the rankings, having come back in several key matches against some very big-name players.

However, in the recent months his game play progressed and he no longer needed to "come back" to win; he just bulldozed over his opponents from the very first point. Formally the underdog, both on and off the court, it had taken him several years to get to where he was right now.

Two wins away from the championship.

Facing the third seed(1) of the tournament, he knew it would be a challenge. Neji may be ranked fifth in the world, but this guy across from him was two positions higher on the tennis totem pole. Losing the first set, Neji came back to win the second, lose the third, but still win the fourth. And now…well, now he was **three** points away from taking this final set to tiebreak, winner of which plays for the championship on Sunday.

"_Easy as pie_," Neji thought and then furrowed his eyebrows, "_Whatever the hell that even means._"

The score was 15-15. Only three more points: 30-15. 40-15. Game over. And then just one more game to win for the match win.

"_Simple enough, so let's do this_."

For a stoic tennis player who never showed emotion on or off the court (much to the dismay of his female fans) he smirked across the net at his opponent.

Neji pulled his right arm back as he tossed the ball in the air. The taut strings connected with the yellow fibers of the ball and smashed it 120mph…

…into the middle of the net.

"Damnit!" Neji cursed under his breath but refused to show his frustration over a serve he should **not **have missed.

"_Shake it off_," he told himself. "_Pretend you did that on purpose to rile him up. That's right_."

He looked over the net again, smirk held firmly in place. Not sure where the nerves came from that caused him to tank his first serve into the net, Neji pushed any and all emotion aside. He wouldn't let this serve get away from him.

Not a chance.

The score was 15-30 in favor of his opponent, not 30-15 like he had planned.

The entire stadium was deathly silent with anticipation, as this was the best match of the day by far. Hell, even the other guy was ready to return the ball and almost shouted at Neji to "hurry up."

He didn't get a chance to as Neij's wrist snapped the ball into the air.

His right arm, previously flexed back, suddenly came forward, racket at the ready. All eyes were on the bright yellow tennis ball, and it seemed as if everyone was holding their breath until a clap of thunder echoed across the court.

Neji's eyes went wide.

The ball slowly bounced to a stop on _his _side of the net.

Double fault.

15-40.

Game point.

But not for him.

Instead of Neji being two points away from the game and another game from victory, his opponent was **ONE **point away from serving for the **match**.

He whipped his head around and stared into the crowd seated behind him.

* * *

_Five hours earlier_

"Argouuuuraahhhhh." Shikamaru yawned and then "oomphed" as he was smacked on the back by his blonde companion.

"You can't get bored yet!" chastised Ino. "The match hasn't even started!"

Shikamaru glowered. "I still don't see the point of you dragging me here."

Ino batted her eyes and smiled a smile that was anything but sweet. "I do believe the _point _I told you this morning was that you needed to get your lazy ass out of the house and actually _do _something. Especially since staying cooped in your apartment isn't helping your writer's block. At. All."

Shikamaru rolled his eyes, knowing that she was right on the latter statement at least.

"Besides," Ino continued, waving her hand absently in the air, "I had tickets to the tournament, and I thought this could be some good hang-out time since I never see you outside of work. And even then, you've gotten very good at avoiding our face-to-face meetings." She narrowed her eyes in his direction. attempting to turn his head toward her with the power of her mind.

Oddly enough, it worked but only because Shikamaru couldn't believe what his best friend was actually saying, as he threw his head back and looked at Ino over his shoulder.

"Tell me, Ino, what is the point of using a pseudonym if I can't hide what I look like from fans _and _editors alike? If I went into he publishing office for each meeting you schedule then your co-workers would figure out who I am. They're not _that _dumb." Shikamaru paused and tipped his head to the side, "Well, that blonde guy in your office who's always fawning over Sakura actually might be…"

Ino just gritted her teeth. "Well, excuse me for trying to do something nice. Your precious secret identity is safe," she said sarcastically. "You wouldn't have to worry if you came into the office simply as my friend. The most people would think is that we were dating. That's it."

Shikamaru audibly scoffed. "Yeah, we'll start dating the day Jiraiya stops writing porn."

Ino rolled her eyes at her friend's choice of words knowing full well Shikamaru would never date her because of his own "personal preferences" and there was no way in hell her boss, the head editor, would ever stop writing "adult literature" under his own pseudonym.

"Whatever, Shikamaru. Let's leave this argument for your next progress update. I'll chew your head off then." Ino gave him a wicked smile.

"You've been spending way too much time with Sakura, haven't you?" Shikamaru scooted as far back in his seat as he could, slightly frightened.

Ino narrowed her eyes at him. "Forehead girl can kiss my ass. Just sit back, relax, and don't think about your novel. Today is a good day to be lazy."

She was met with a raised eyebrow at that comment. "For you, maybe. A tennis match isn't exactly my choice of fine entertainment."

"Not just any tennis match, Shikamaru, but the semifinals!" Ino gestured her hands widely to show the intensity surrounding the venue.

Shikamaru just stared back with his typical apathetic look.

"Oooookay." Ino smirked back. "Well, at least you can enjoy checking out the players instead of the actual game."

He quirked an eyebrow at her. Maybe Ino knew him better than he gave her credit for. _Maybe _this tennis match wouldn't be so bad after all.

"Well, if I do that then I'm definitely forgoing ogling Captain Tightpants(2) over there," he replied, gesturing to the player on the opposite end of the court from where they were seated.

"You mean Rock Lee?"

"The strange guy with the even stranger outfit?"

Ino nodded her head. "Yup, that's him. He's the third seed in this tournament and the third ranked men's player in the world."

Thin wire framed glasses slid down his nose, as Shikamaru stared pointedly over the top of the rims at Ino.

"You've got to be kidding."

Ino shook her head "no."

"But…but…" Shikamaru stuttered, for once in his life at a loss for words as he stared at the subject of their conversation.

"It's not physically possible for someone to wear shorts like that and not feel at least a little...constricted. How the hell is he going to play a tennis match?"

/snort/

Ino had to quell her laughter before she could reply. "I think he'll manage. He's worn this exact same outfit since he first began playing, and it hasn't stopped him yet. The one thing that _will _stop him, however, is Neji Hyuuga."

At the mention of the new name, Shikamaru changed his focus to regard the other player.

Neji Hyuuga, Shikamaru concluded, looked less like a tennis player than Super Brows across the net. He observed the man silently behind his shaded lenses, noticing that he chose a simple outfit that almost appeared to be too loose fitting. The Hyuuga didn't appear to "swim" in the clothing but nor were the shorts and v-neck t-shirt a tailored fit.

Stranger still, the guy had hair that went past his shoulders. Instead of tying the hair securely back in a ponytail like Shikamaru had seen athletes do before, it was secured only a few inches up from the bottom, the tie still below his shoulders with a black head wrap around his forehead and disappearing underneath his hair.

Shikamaru didn't quite get it but then, he never watched tennis before. He didn't know if there was a science to tennis outfits or not.

Then it hit him as he was appraising how the fifth seed Hyuuga could move across so quickly across the court, as he attempted to rationalize why he was staring at Hyuuga's fit body before Ino could catch his ogling and call him out on it.

"_Maneuverability_," Shikamaru smiled to himself, "_His clothing allows his arms and legs to move easily and not be hindered by the pull of the fabric to obtain maximum flexibility and maneuverability on the court. It may not show off his ass, but it gives him a definite advantage on court. Very interesting_."

He turned back to Ino, not realizing he had tuned her or that she _had _caught him staring quite intently at a certain tennis player.

"Who is he, again?" Shikamaru asked and Ino gave a small, and what Shikamaru could only describe as "devious," smile in response.

"Neji Hyuuga," she began, "25 years old. Fifth seed here and fifth ranked player in the world. A Japanese-British citizen as he was born in London a few years after his parents emigrated from Japan. His uncle got him started to play tennis as an outlet for his anger over the deaths of his parents. He still coaches him, too. Now, he's the number one player in Britain, and his two cousins, Hinata and Hanabi Hyuuga, are the number one doubles team in the world. Tennis runs in their family."

Now it was Shikamaru's turn to snort. "What? Did you memorize each player's biography from Wikipedia"?(3)

Rolling her eyes and ignoring the remark, Ino continued, "Actually, he's one of the more mysterious players. That's pretty much all anyone knows about him. He's notoriously private."

She paused and began to tap her index finger against her chin. "Gee, that sounds oddly familiar. A person who doesn't like to be bothered by anyone. Yes," she said and looked at Shikamaru, "That sounds _just _like someone else I know."

"I may like my privacy, Ino," Shikamaru said as he turned hi attention from the court where the players were finishing up their warm-up and back to Ino. "But at least I go out and do what and who I want instead of sitting alone in my apartment every Friday night watching period Jane Austen romances while fantasizing about that brooding bastard Sasuke from PR who is too caught up in himself to notice a trivial school girl crush from an editor like you."

It only took a nano-second for Shikamaru to realize that, yet again, the scathing he tone he used in his novels had come out of his mouth in real life as he unintentionally hurt his best friend with his quick, blunt assessment of her social life.

Taking his own frustration due to writer's block out on Ino was uncalled for and extremely cruel, which is why when he felt the biting sting of a slap across his left check, he knew he deserved much, much worse.

/Slap/

"SHIKAMARU! What the hell?!" Ino yelled.

Said person grimaced and started rubbing his check. "Okay. First of all: Ouch. Second: I'm an insensitive ass. We both know this. I had no right to say that. Especially, not about you, Ino. I'm sorry."

"You better be," Ino said, staring down at Shikamaru, not realizing that she had risen up out of her seat to hit him.

As Shikamaru looked up at his best friend, hand still rubbing his check that now sported a large red mark, both he and Ino felt the odd sensation of being watched.

At the same time, they both turned toward the court where one pair of pale eyes with an accompanying half-grimace and a pair of very thick and raised black eyebrows were giving them what could only be described as "WTF?" looks.

"Uh, hello there," Ino offered tentatively to what she now realized was the entire stadium audience looking in their direction because of her rather loud exclamation of anger and the reverberating sound of the slap that accompanied it.

Waving her fingers slightly, she sank dramatically to her seat, hunching her shoulders and attempted to hide behind her hands.

Both players returned their attention to each other and the crowd began to murmur: half about the match and the other half about Ino's not so tiny outburst.

"Troublesome," muttered Shikamaru, patting Ino on the back and giving her a half hug.

"The match is about to begin. Please, no flash-photography and quiet during points," the Chair Umpire said, stressing the latter statement. "Mr. Lee is to serve."

* * *

"_The fans get stranger every year_," Neji thought as he watched the blonde girl wave to the crowd before turning red and sinking to her seat. He saw her companion? Boyfriend? The guy with the weird hair pat her on the back before clearing his head and taking a deep breath. He barely heard the chair umpire announce Lee's serve.

"_Okay. Sorry Lee, but this time, it's going to be me who will be kissing that trophy on Sunday_."

Neji bent his knees, getting into his standard position to receive serve. He glanced up at the other end of the court, looking above Lee's head and met a pair of dark eyes that were looking directly at him over the rim of a pair of glasses.

It was that same man, again; the one with the loudmouth girlfriend.

Neji inclined his eyebrows just slightly toward him. He knew a novice when he saw them in the crowd, and this man was definitely one with his slightly perplexed look as he stared back in Neji's direction as if he did not know what to expect from the match.

Well, Neji was ready to show him and the rest of the crowd why he should be the next number one player and tournament champion.

He smirked back at the man with the dark eyes and then returned his focus to Lee.

"_It's my time to win now_," he thought and straightened his posture the moment the ball was hit and hurdling toward him.

* * *

_Nearly four hours later…_

Shikamaru was enjoying the match.

Really.

Honestly.

Okay, maybe not as much as _Ino _was, especially after she recovered _extremely _quickly from her earlier mortification.

But he was enjoying watching the back-and-forth battle that was occurring on court.

At least, that's how he put it to Ino when she smacked his head during a change-over thinking that the look of boredom on his face mirrored how he felt about the match.

Actually, Shikamaru's face looked like it did most of the time anyway but especially when he was concentrating.

Oh yes, he was enjoying the match, but instead of watching the travels of the yellow ball, he was having a much better time watching the players.

He had come to the conclusion that Rock Lee's calf muscles were made of solid iron. The man would just not stop running, chasing down each shot. They really were great calves. Not too large or steroid-induced and not too skinny. Perfectly proportioned.

Shikamaru pinched the bridge of his nose, thinking, "_Ino really knew what she was doing by inviting me here if I'm focusing this much on a guy's calves. I'm gonna give myself a nose-bleed soon_."

Deciding to take a break from his silently observations, and by that Shikamaru really meant ogling since he'd been doing that to both players since the first set, he moved his focus away from Lee's legs to the player who stood directly in front of he and Ino awaiting Lee's serve.

It was this player who had caused Shikamaru's earlier look of boredom, the look Ino slapped him for.

Mere moments before the match began, Shikamaru was awe-struck by Neji Hyuuga, and he had no idea why. He had gently consoled Ino because of the embarrassment caused by his big mouth and when he looked up at the court he was looking directly at the Hyuuga.

This was not a moment of where the player was looking in Shikamaru's general direction. No, Shikamaru knew that Neji Hyuuga was looking directly _at _him.

Normally, Shikamaru was a good judge of character, of people in general. He had developed this ability from countless years observing people and writing his observations in his prose. But now, he could not begin to fathom Neji Hyuuga and he did not know why.

There was something about the tennis player, a thought that was just out of Shikamaru's reach. A thought which he spent the rest of the match trying to grasp.

The smirk that Hyuuga gave him only fueled Shikamaru's brain to want to understand what made the man tick. And so, he spent his time silently observing the technical and physical aspects of the fifth seed's overall approach to the match as well as that of his fuzzy-browed opponent in order to figure him out.

So far, if Shikamaru remembered correctly, and he did, the Hyuuga had made fewer errors than Lee by a considerable amount. And yet both players were now tied 3-3 in the 5th and final set.

"_Hmm…each of them has their strengths, but Hyuuga is just gorgeous to watch. His form is amazing_," Shikamaru thought as he leaned back in his seat with Ino sitting on the edge of hers beside him. "_I wonder what goes through his head to make him move like that. I wonder if he knows what he looks like to the crowd watching him? He has to with the way his playing just compliments how his ass looks right in those shorts. Okay, Shikamaru, get your mind out of the gutter. Although, now I know why Ino _really _likes this game. Now where was I_?" Shikamaru settled back and continued to observe the player in front of him.

Like many people watching the match, Shikamaru's eyes were going back and forth but following a certain tennis player instead of the tennis ball.

However, it was the combination of his eyes becoming tired due to this strenuous work (well, strenuous for him that's for sure), the fact that he had been sitting in the same spot for close to 4 hours, and his brain working overtime in an attempt to deduce the meaning of that damned smirk that caused Shikamaru to slowly doze off.

* * *

It was 4-4 in the final set. Neji Hyuuga was three points away from the game and one more game from vicotry. Ino was gripping the edge of her seat.

This was perhaps the best match Ino had witnessed in person. It was riveting, charged with emotion, everything she had hoped for! She really hoped that Shikamaru was enjoying himself since she wanted to find an activity the two of them could engage in that did not make him bored as hell.

After several mistrials, Ino was certain she found the perfect one: tennis. Not playing, but watching. She knew that Shikamaru wouldn't care about the score or rules of the game, but he wouldn't mind sitting back and watching two hot tennis players ("_Okay_," she told herself, "_One hot guy and one guy with a great body but weird eyebrows and fashion sense_.") fight it out on court.

And fighting they were.

"_Hold on just a little longer Hyuuga_!" Ino mentally encouraged. "_I've got fifty bucks riding on you to win this thing! Don't let me down_."

She was biting her lip when the score became 15-15. Ino's anxiety wasn't helped any more when on the next point, Neji's first serve landed in the net.

"Come on! Serve an ace!" Ino screamed along with half the stadium as the players repositioned themselves for the second serve.

"Quiet please," stated the Chair Umpire as the crowd settled down, murmuring only slightly before there was silence.

Neji Hyuuga bounced the ball three times before getting in his serving position.

The entire time he did this, Ino's eyes were glued to the ball in his hand.

Ino watched the ball being tossed high in the air.

She saw the strings on the racket approaching it quickly.

But before there was contact the sound of thunder echoed in the stadium.

Okay, so Ino was being slightly overdramatic in her description of the noise, but it was loud.

Before she could register what the noise was, Ino saw Hyuuga's serve hit the net and then her eyes turned to the player himself who was now looking in her direction, a look of fury on his face.

Ino turned to her right and looked down at her friend.

Shikamaru was slouching in his seat, his mouth slightly ajar. And he was snoring. Softly now, but Ino _knew _that in the moment of the Hyuuga's last serve, Shikamaru inadvertently snored rather loudly causing the echo in the stadium and also causing Hyuuga to miss his serve.

Oh, she was going to kill him. Who falls asleep at a tennis match?!?!

But first, the spectators were going to get an encore as Ino was about to give Shikamaru a rude awakening.

* * *

/Thunk/

Shikamaru's head fell against his desk as his body had titled forward in his sleep.

"Ah, dammit," he cursed under his breath while rubbing his forehead.

Thankfully, he had missed his laptop keyboard this time and did not need to delete dozens of lines of gibberish from his manuscript.

He pulled his hand away from his head and stared at the words on the screen.

There were not as many as there should have been.

He just couldn't think today…not after what had happened yesterday.

Shikamaru vaguely remembered the middle of the tennis match Ino dragged him to as he was slowly becoming a fan of the sport. He thought both players were doing a good job, and then he fell asleep.

He couldn't exactly explain why he did it, afterall he wasn't tired, but he just did.

The next thing Shikamaru knew, Ino had just elbowed him in the side to "wake him" which did but she also knocked the wind out of him.

After coughing for a minute trying to get the air back into his lungs, Shikamaru realized two things. The first was that Ino was yelling at him. Again. And even stranger was the second: play on court had stopped. Both players were now u by the chair umpire with Lee looking from his rival to the umpire to the court and back while Hyuuga was staring up at the umpire, gesturing somewhat wildly with his hands and pointing in Shikamaru's direction.

"Wha--/cough/ what's going on?" Shikamaru managed to get out after his coughing had mostly subsided.

Ino's eyes turned wild and Shikamaru knew he had said the wrong thing.

In the ensuing moments, Ino dragged Shikamaru up by a fistful of his shirt and dragged him out of the stadium explaining how his snoring caused Neji Hyuuga to miss his serve on a key point. When Shikamaru heard this, he had one last glimpse of the court and a pair of hate-filled pale eyes before Ino forced him to round the corner.

On their way to his apartment, Shikamaru tried to explain to Ino that it was not _his _fault if the guy missed his serve.

"_If he's such a good tennis player then he shouldn't let something as trivial as a small noise distract him_." Shikamaru had said.

Reluctantly, Ino agreed but also swore not to take him to a match again unless he made sure to stay awake. Shikamaru didn't think he'd be going to any more tennis matches for a while anyway.

Now a day later, he sat in front of his laptop attempting to write his novel so Ino would get off his back making deadlines and all he could think about was the damned tennis match.

It wasn't his fault that after that fateful point the Hyuuga had lost his serve and failed to break Lee's serve in the following game which allowed super-brows to win the match.

Nope, not his fault at all.

So why couldn't Shikamaru get _that look _on Neji Hyuuga's face out of his mind?

Shikamaru didn't know but what he did know was that obsessing over the answer was stirring up a case of writer's block which he really needed to avoid.

Grabbing his jacket he left the apartment in search of a good cup of caffeine to get his mind back on the writing track.

* * *

"I'm trying to pull myself away from everything…" muttered Shikamaru to himself as he walked to the small café on the corner block. "No, that won't work. Maybe, "I'm caught in a pattern and can't…." nope. Think of a _good _ending line not pithy drabble Nara."(4)

Shikamaru titled his head down, looking at the sidewalk and continued to mutter to himself.

Lost in his own little world of words, blinking cursors, and critical eyes, he did not notice the person walking in his direction who was also not paying attention.

/bump-crash/

The men knocked shoulders.

Shikamaru shook his head from side to side. "Excuse me," Shikamaru mumbled and continued walking.

It wasn't until he heard an undeniably English accent call out his name that he stopped dead in his tracks.

"_It can't be,_"thought Shikamaru. "_Ino's joking with me. That's what this is_."

"Shikamaru!" His named was called in _that _accent again.

Shikamaru blinked once, scanning his brain for any knowledge of scorned tennis players who had committed murder and then reluctantly turned around.

What he found was not the same person he had seen on court the previous day. He was looking at Neji Hyuuga, that was a fact, but the athlete looked different.

A baseball cap with a logo he didn't recognize sat atop his head. Shikamaru also presumed the cap hid his hair as it was not visible in the usual ponytail. Cementing the identity was the pair of pale eyes staring back at him from over a pair of sunglasses.

"Yeah?" was the only word that came out of Shikamaru's mouth.

"_Oh great_," he thought, "_I'm going to be murdered by a stuck-up tennis player in the middle of the sidewalk. What a way to die_."

Neji took his sunglasses off completely. "I can't believe it's you." He sounded almost in awe.

Shikamaru gave him an appraising glance up and down as if the person might be an impostor.

"Same here," he quirked an eyebrow. "What the hell's a tennis player doing in the middle of street? Shouldn't be on a plane home now that you've lost?"

If Shikamaru had thought Neji spoke in awe the first time, he knew he spoke with contempt now.

"Normally, I would," Neji said through gritted teeth. "But my cousins have a match later on today and I also did not _feel _up to traveling yet."

"Because you lost the biggest tennis match of your life?" Shikamaru feigned ignorance but chose his words to grate on the Hyuuga's nerves. Probably not the best course of action if the guy really was going to kill him right then and there. But then again, he had stopped Shikamaru from getting his much needed caffeine so let the guy take a few insults. He deserved them.

"Can we take this conversation elsewhere? I would rather not talk about such things where everyone can hear us. And believe me, I _want _to talk about this."

"Sure," Shikamaru said and turned around. "I was just on my way to get coffee anyway."

* * *

Once in the small café and settled with his drink at a round table in the corner, Shikamaru smiled and looked Neji in the eyes.

"So, what brings _you _of all people to my part of town? Looking for me? Come to punch me in the nose for disrupting your match yesterday?" Shikamaru figured he might as well be blunt and to the point since the entire situation of meeting the one person he couldn't get his mind off seemed utterly bizarre.

He was fairly sure that he was still asleep in front of his computer and the scenario enfolding in front of him was just his subconscious telling him that Ino was right and he needed to get out more.

But when "imaginary" Neji began speaking and Shikamaru looked up and saw the depth of strained emotion in those eyes, he knew he was awake.

"If you must know," Neji said after setting down his own cup, "I was out for a walk to clear my head. After everything that happened at the match, I was still angry today and thought some fresh air would help me calm down.

"So, you didn't come looking for me?" Shikamaru put his hand to his chest, mocking an affront. "I'm hurt!"

Neji just rolled his eyes. _This _was the person who cost him the match?

For the first time, Neji sat back in his seat and relaxed his shoulders. This was going to be a long conversation.

"No, actually. I had thought about it—looking you up and demanding an explanation from you. I had your first name after all since you girlfriend shouted it to the world—"

"Ah, a point," Shikamaru interrupted, raising his index finger for emphasis, "Ino is _not _my girlfriend. Best friend since childhood, yes, but the thought of her and me together is…unbelievable. Yeah, that's the right word for it."

Neji raised an eyebrow. "You are very strange person."

Shikamaru fired back easily. "I could say the same since you stalked me."

Affronted, Neji spoke quickly. "I never stalked you. Thought about it, yes, but—"

Shikamaru leaned forward on the table pointing an accusatory finger in Neji's face just to see how he would react. "So you _admit _that you thought about stalking me. That's just as bad as actually stalking."

Now, the writer was smirking upon seeing a brilliant red begin to color Neji's face.

"I—what? You are impossible. No wonder it's because of you that I lost my match."

It was Shikamaru's turn to look affronted.

"Hold on. You losing the match was not my fault." He shook his head slightly for emphasis.

Neji narrowed his eyes pointedly. "Yes. It was. You intentionally disrupted the most critical point of the entire match, causing me to lose the point and lose focus. I was up in the air for the rest of the match, although it was not for that long since I _lost _it in the next game."

Shikamaru rolled his eyes and sighed. Why did all athletes have to be drama queens?

He put his elbows up on the table and looked directly into Neji's eyes to make sure the tennis player would listen to what he had to say because Shikamaru was pretty sure he was not going to like it.

"First of all, the "disruption" as you called it was not intentional. I fell asleep and unfortunately snored when you were about to serve. Bad timing. And if you lost the point, that's your own fault for not being a good athlete who would take the entire situation in stride and just let it go and regroup for the next point. If you want to blame someone, blame yourself."

As predicted, Neji was taken aback.

"_Is _he _right? _Was _it just bad timing and I could not deal with the pressure? I've been dwelling on this for a long time and I couldn't accept what anyone told me until he said it so plainly. I was too self-absorbed to play the way I should have. Looking at it from someone else's point of view makes sense and makes me look like an ass. And I am. Damn him for being right_."

Neji closed his eyes. "Okay. Your…frank assessment is right and I simply couldn't see it before. I…did not want to see it, that it was my own fault for losing the game and then continuing to focus on what could have been. I guess deep down I knew I lost that match on my own but I did not want to accept it. I was so close to winning. _Finally_. I would have been one win away from the championship. But then I am not the first whose downfall has been due to arrogance."

Shikamaru rested his chin on his closed fist, silently observing the other man.

"I'm sorry if I was too harsh, but someone needed to tell you."

Neji half smiled. "Oh, believe me. My uncle tried to do that several times. Unfortunately, when you've been listening to your coach analyze your performance in every single match, sometimes you just block him out because you've head the same speech over and over. You just happen to be a stranger who wasn't afraid of telling me what I needed to hear. I owe you a thank you. Although, you did have the _worst _timing."

Now it was Shikamaru's turn to look slightly confused. "You mentioned something like that earlier. The point was "critical" or something? What the hell does that mean?"

Neji "hmphed" softly. "You really don't anything about tennis do you?"

"Only what I learned today."

"Well," Neji began, a little surprised, "When you…snored, I was serving at 15-30 and on my second serve. Many people would disagree, but I think 15-30 is the most critical point of any game."

"Why?" Shikamaru asked. "What makes it different from 0-40? That seems like it would be an even more tense situation."

"I agree, 0-40 is a tense situation. For the server to come from behind and win three straight points to get even is extremely difficult. That scenario is almost hopeless. The returner of serve might as well have won the game. But at 15-30 there is a glimmer of hope for the server."

Shikamaru leaned a little forward, intrigued by what Neji was saying, who leaned forward on the table as well to further accentuate his argument.

"At 15-30, there are two scenarios: First, the server loses the next point and drops to 15-40, game point for the returner. But one must not forget the second scenario: the server wins the next point and pulls even for 30-30. This critical point adds to the server's confidence, shows him that he's not out for good yet. It shows that yes, he _can _win. He just needs to know that the possibility is there and if he tries, he just might make it. And once you've pulled even, well then, the next two points are easy."

Neji paused as he thought about the words that had just come out of his mouth as he realized that everything Shikamaru said was true and he had just echoed the same sentiments.

"It sounds like you _do _know what you're doing out there," Shikamaru replied, slightly astonished at Neji's philosophy of tennis as he was wont to call it.

"Usually, but not yesterday. I guess I got caught up in the moment. I couldn't stop thinking about the possibility of hoisting that trophy on Sunday." Neji looked over Shikamaru's shoulders as if he were visualizing what he just said.

"There's always next year, Neji. Try just as hard to win it next time," Shikamaru said simply.

Turning back at the mention of him, Neji replied. "I suppose you're right. Although, if I happen to get to the semifinals or the final of a grand slam again, promise me something."

Looking puzzled, Shikamaru asked, "What exactly?"

Neji looked directly into his eyes. "You won't be in the crowd watching me."

Shikamaru burst out laughing and soon Neji was chuckling along with him.

Once he had settled down, he voiced, "Don't worry. I think I've been to my first and last tennis match. It's not exactly my sport of choice."

"If you don't like tennis," Neji started, "what were you doing at a match anyway?"

"I never said I didn't like tennis, it's just not something I seek out to watch," Shikamaru replied, "Although, watching you guys move around on court like _that _for hours on end, yeah, that's something I could get into the habit of watching."

"_Is he flirting or being sarcastic?_" Neji thought. Then he remembered the earlier comment about how Shikamaru's friend Ino and he could never be seen together. Was the bastard coming onto him? If he was, then this was new to Neji although it was not an _unpleasant _turn of events.

Knowing he had to say something, Neji spoke the first words that came to his mind.

"Yes, well, moving around on court tends to happen when one is trying to chase down balls."

Shikamaru bit his lip to keep himself from snickering due Neji's words, but he couldn't do anything about the smile that still formed on his face.

Noticing this Neji said, "It doesn't take much to amuse you, does it?"

"Actually, it does. I'm not a person who laughs all that much. So, I applaud you," Shikamaru began clapping sincerely before continuing, "because you're probably the only other person aside from Ino who's gotten me to laugh…well, snicker at least since I was attempting to hold in that laugh. Although, it wasn't working too well, was it?"

Shikamaru couldn't help the second smile that formed as he shook his head at his own antics.

As Neji looked at the peculiar person who sat across from him, he couldn't help smiling in return.

"No, not all." Suddenly, the two men burst out laughing garnering some odd looks from the few customers in the café. After a few moments of laughing that neither knew the reason for doing so, they quieted down as Neji asked:

"You keeping mention the woman you were with at the match. Ino, was it?"

Shikamaru took a sip of his coffee, now chilled. "Yup, that's her. Blonde, bitchy, and my best friend."

"So she's not your girlfriend; you don't have one." Neji stated and, upon realizing how his words could be interpreted, quickly fought down the shock and embarrassment that wanted to adorn his face.

"Ha! No way in hell would I be with her or any other girl. Women are too troublesome," Shikamaru said and smirked at Neji. "Why? Are you making sure I'm single so _you _can ask me out?"

"What? That is absolute rubbish. I have no intention of asking you out. It's ridiculous!" Neji stammered, trying in vain to keep a calm face despite his realization that he _was _interested in the answer.

"That's too bad. I would have said yes if you did," Shikamaru replied, somewhat surprised at his own response but knowing that it was true. In only a few hours, the tennis player had captured his attention fiercely and Shikamaru was just fine with that.

Attempting to get the conversation off himself, Neji got went back to his question.

"So why do you keep mentioning Ino and hang out with her so much if you don't…prefer women," he asked, feigning nonchalance.

"For someone who claims he's not romantically interested, you're acting the part quite well by asking me such subtle questions about what I do in my spare time." Shikamaru inclined his head toward Neji slightly who only glowered in response.

Chuckling, Shikamaru finally gave Neji a direct answer.

"Well, Ino's like a sister to me. We've been friends since childhood and she imakes/i sure I hang out with her to get me out of the apartment. She says it's good for me to get some sunlight every now and then. She's a stubborn woman and an even more tenacious editor, always pestering me about my deadlines but she's my best friend and I wouldn't change her."

"She's your editor?" Neji asked, shocked. "You write?"

Shikamaru sucked in a breath quickly, not sure if we wanted to go on with this line of conversation, but then, thinking about who he was talking to and how much fun he was having, he decided to be himself for once. Literally.

"Oh what the hell," he brushed off. "I've written a novel or two."

His companion looked skeptical. "Are you serious?"

Shikamaru just nodded his head.

"Anything I've read?" Neji asked, genuinely curious.

Shrugging his shoulders, Shikamaru said, "Maybe. You ever read Osaka Sun?"

Neji sputtered into his tea.

"_You _wrote Osaka Sun"?5 The book that has been on bestseller lists for months and everyone loves, even the harshest critics?" Neji looked in shock and in awe at the same time. "_You're_ Riley Nash?"(6)

"Could you turn down the volume just a little?" Shikamaru asked sardonically. "You don't want to be recognized, hence your awful fashion sense, and I don't want to either, hence the pen name."

Neji shook his head back and forth, still not believing that he was sitting across from the author of one of his favorite novels.

"How can you be Riley Nash?"

"Easy," said Shikamaru as he leaned back in his chair, hands behind his head. "I wrote the book, picked a pen name and the company published it under that name."

Neji's look of awe was replaced by a look of exasperation. "I realize that, but what I meant was that you're not what I expected when I pictured my favorite author. I'm not sure I fully believe you're him either."

Shikamaru shrugged his shoulders to disguise the unexpected flutter he felt at Neji's revelation. "That's fine. I never said you had to believe me. But just out of curiosity, what idid/i expect your favorite author to be like?"

He was looking at Neji intently, very keen to hear the answer.

The tennis player slouched in his seat for the first time, bowing his head slightly in thought and not looking up at Shikamaru as he began to speak, somewhat out of embarrassment that he just admitted he was a "fan" of Shikamaru's but also out somberness at the memories the question had brought on.

"I was expecting someone a little like myself, actually," Neji said softly. "Your novel struck a chord with me when I read it for the first time. The main character's thoughts mirrored several of my own that I had while growing up, especially in the years after my parents died. In a way, I guess I was expecting a man who was full of regret for what might have been in his life if he had made different choices. But if he had, there wouldn't have been much of a novel would there?"

He looked up at Shikamaru and saw the sincere empathy in the other's eyes.

"No, there wouldn't have," he said. "I'm sorry for your loss. I don't know what—"

Neji cut him off with a wave of his hand. "Don't worry about it. _You _asked _me _what I thought after all, not the other way around. Besides, that was years ago. I have my uncle and my cousins now, and I am very grateful for them."

For what a strange afternoon it had been, going from unexpected when he first encountered Neji to entertaining when he was able to embarrass him, and surprising when he realized he thought of the tennis player as more than just a pretty boy to look at, Shikamaru didn't want to leave off in such a dismal note.

Maybe he did owe Neji something since his behavior at the match yesterday was rather uncouth.

Shikamaru smiled to himself, an idea already forming in his head.

"You know, if you're still unconvinced, I can show you."

Neji looked up at Shikamaru, confused.

"The original manuscripts," he said, "with notations and editor's comments. You said it's a book you enjoy, so I thought you might like to see how it evolved from the very first draft."

Neji could only blink.

In front of him sat a person who he had blamed for causing him to lose the match when it was his own fault. A person he barely knew, aside from what they had discussed in a few hours at a café. A man who reminded him a little of himself and was, Neji was sorry to admit, the only person aside from his cousin Hanabi who was able to get under his skin.

It was Neji's choice to make, just like in yesterday's match, but would he be able to pull through in the end?

"I'd like that," he replied and nodding his head.

"Cool," Shikamaru said, grabbing his coffee and getting up from his seat. "It's only a few minutes walk to my place if you want to grab your tea and go now."

"Sure," Neji said and did so.

As they were walking out the door, Shikamaru asked a question that he had been curious about the entire afternoon he and Neji were talking.

"So…you're British? Does that mean that you watch—"

"Not every British person likes Doctor Who(7)." Neji interrupted.

Shikamaru would not go down without a fight.

"But that show's been on since the 1960s…you've had to at least watched one episode…right?"

Neji slowly blinked his eyes.

"Riiiight…" replied Shikamaru. "Not everyone's a sci-fi fan."

Neji smirked. "I didn't say that I _wasn't _a sci-fi fan. I merely stopped you from going along with a stereotype like most people do."

"Okay," Shikamaru held out his hands defensively. "Point taken."

"Besides," Neji continued, "I am a fan of that show."

"Really?" Shikamaru turned to regard him as they were walking. "Which Doctor is your favorite?"

"Ninth doctor," Neji replied without skipping a beat. "Best there is."

"Rubbish." Shikamaru mocked. "Tenth doctor all the way. _He _doesn't have big ears like _your _favorite doctor."

Neji smacked Shikamaru lightly in the back of the head.

"There is nothing wrong with his ears. Big ears happen to be very common in Britain." Neji stated haughtily.

Smiling to himself, Shikamaru said, "Whatever you say."

Their banter continued as they walked down the street, going from strangers to friends in less than a less.

* * *

_Eighteen months later_

On the grandest stage in all of tennis, Neji Hyuuga _finally _got to his championship match and his chance at history.

He had made through the six matches, a few close calls and only had one game to win to take it all.

But no longer was being the tournament champion the most important thing to him.

No, that was reserved for _someone _else entirely.

Neji gave one last look into the crowd. He saw Ino's blonde ponytail swishing back and forth, her eyes still wide with amazement that she was actually sitting in the stadium court of the most famous tennis tournament in the world.

He did not know her all that well, but Neji liked her well enough and knew he had plenty of time to know her better.

Besides, he trusted her with the most important task of all: keeping her best friend awake.

Smiling to himself, Neji looked to the seat beside Ino and found the eyes of the person he wished to see most.

Looking up at Shikamaru he recalled in a matter of moments all that they had been through together. It still amazed him how they had ended up here.

He couldn't believe how far they'd come. First, literally running into each other and beginning and unlikely friendship over coffee and tea which eventually progressed into something more.

Neji always went back to an idea he had that it was fate but he wasn't sure if he quite believed it.

Then again, none of it, his and Shikamaru's time together, would have never happened if he had never faced that single point so many months ago.

15-30.

He could have given the point away, refused the offer to see his book, and he would have gone back to his own life and never hearing from Shikamaru again.

But Neji didn't. He took his chance and put himself on the same level as that incorrigible writer.

And he won.

They both won.

Neji gave one last look at the damned writer. _His _damned writer. He smirked and turned back to the court.

The chair umpire would call him on a time violation if he didn't serve soon.

Now, Neji took another chance on 15-30. It worked well the last time so why not again?

He tossed the ball in the air and swung his racket.

fin.

* * *

Endnotes:

1 - "Seed" refers to the ranking system in a tennis tournament. In the four tennis grand slams, there are 32 seeds on the men's and women's side. Usually, the seed number a player is corresponds with their world ranking but not always. Ranking players like this allows tournament officials to balance the overall draw for the tournament so theoretically the number 1 seed should face the number 2 seed in the final.

2 - Shameless _Firefly _reference. See episode 1.4 "Shindig." It's a mighty fine time.

3 - Wikipedia is not mine.

4 - The lines are a reference to the song "Trying to Pull Myself Away" by Glen Hansard from the film _Once_.

5 - Osaka Sun" is a title I made up for Shikamaru's novel, although I got the idea to use that phrase from the lyrics of Coldplay's song "Lovers in Japan."

6 - Again, I made up Shikamaru's pseudonym but I was listening to Kate Nash and Rilo Kiley while I wrote this and I combined their names to get the pseudonym.

7 - _Doctor Who_ belongs to the BBC and Russel T Davies and not to me.

I'm not sure where this fic came from...but thanks for reading my strange little fic! Reviewing would be lovely! ^^

And happy holidays!


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